Local News

Local fire departments are collecting donated supplies to aid firefighters battling wildfires in western North Carolina.

Items can be dropped off at the Brunswick County Emergency Operations Center at the county complex in Bolivia, the Winnabow Volunteer Fire Department at 161 Governors Road SE, and Sunset Beach Fire Station No. 1 at 102 Shoreline Drive West.

Winnabow Fire Chief Travis B. Mercer, who is urging participation from county fire departments, said his goal is to be loaded and ready to deliver supplies Saturday morning, Nov. 19.

The John N. Smith Cemetery has announced a $14,500 grant from The Orton Foundation, the North Carolina affiliate of Louis Bacon’s Moore Charitable Foundation. Established in 1880, this African-American cemetery is on Leonard Street in Southport.

Preservation of the cemetery has deep historical and spiritual significance for the Southport community. The grant will enable the cemetery to install a new perimeter fence around the property.

A toll-free legal aid hotline is available for victims of Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina. The service, which allows callers to request the assistance of a lawyer, is a partnership between the North Carolina Bar Association, Legal Aid of North Carolina, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Nature Conservancy is beginning a multi-year project to restore its Green Swamp Preserve in Brunswick County. The end goal is to recreate the robust longleaf forest savannas that existed before Europeans made their mark on the landscape.

“People driving down Highway 211 will likely see activity in the coming years,” Angie Carl, who is directing the restoration for The Nature Conservancy, said in a news release. “We’ve got more than a decade of research in the swamp to show us what we need to do to restore the forest.”

Calabash Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7288 will conduct a Veterans Day Service at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the Post at 900 Carter Drive SW in Calabash. On Nov. 12, Post members will distribute poppies in the community.

American Legion Nocha White Post 503 at 10277 Beach Drive in Calabash will have a Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11.

VFW Post 8866 at 573 Sabbath Home Road in Supply will conduct a Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. sharp. Shallotte Mayor Walt Eccard will be the keynote speaker.

A federal judge sentenced a Bald Head Island man who served as Robeson County’s longtime attorney to 17 years in prison for bank fraud.

Joseph Hal Kinlaw, Jr., 64,

Kinlaw was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his sentence and to pay $23,796,372 in restitution to his victims.

Kinlaw pleaded guilty June 1 to bank fraud in a real estate scheme expected to result in more than $18 million in losses, and was sentenced Thursday, Nov. 10, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.